Lufkin Air Force Station

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Lufkin Air Force Station (1957-1961) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station located near Lufkin, Angelina County, Texas. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of TM-193. Closed in 1961.

History

Established in 1957 and became operational in January 1959 as Lufkin Air Force Station manned by the 815th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron.

This station was one of eight stations established in the final phase of the Permanent AC&W Radar Program for the 33rd Air Division. The 33rd Air Division would remain a manual operation throughout the transition of the rest of the Air Defense System to the semi-automatic SAGE System. The Oklahoma City Manual Direction Center P-86 remained connected to these sites until they closed down one by one. Because the sites were never destined to become SAGE sites they received older less capable equipment and facilities and they were among the first to be closed when budgets constricted. The eight sites were:

33rd AD Mobile Phase III Radar Sites
1. TM-187 Ozona Air Force Station TX 5. TM-191 Rockport Air Force Station TX
2. TM-188 Eagle Pass Air Force Station TX 6. TM-192 Killeen Air Force Station TX
3. TM-189 Zapata Air Force Station TX 7. TM-193 Lufkin Air Force Station TX
4. TM-190 Port Isabel Air Force Station TX 8. TM-194 Lake Charles Air Force Station LA

The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning mission. The early warning mission involved tracking and identifying all aircraft entering their airspace while the GCI mission involved guiding Air Force interceptors to any identified enemy aircraft. Controllers at the station vectored fighter aircraft at the correct course and speed to intercept enemy aircraft using voice commands via ground-to-air radio.

Initial equipment included the FPS-3A search radar and an FPS-6 height-finder radar.

Manual System Operation

In November 1957 the 815th AC&W Squadron moved to Lufkin Air Force Station assigned to the 33rd Air Division (Defense) Headquartered at Oklahoma City Air Force Station. The 33rd Air Division provided command and control over subordinate radar stations from the Oklahoma City Manual Direction Center P-86 located on Oklahoma City Air Force Station.

Lufkin Direction Centers & Sectors
Assigned Direction Center Sector
Jan 1959 - 1 Jan 1960 Oklahoma City Manual Direction Center P-86 33rd Air Division
1 Jan 1960 - 1 Jun 1961 Oklahoma City Manual Direction Center P-86 Oklahoma City ADS

Closure

Lufkin Air Force Station and the 815th AC&W Squadron were deactivated on 1 Jun 1961.




Lufkin AFS Major Equipment List
Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems Comm
Unit Designations
  • 815th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1956-1961)
815th Assignments


Current Status

Now Lufkin State School, many buildings have been repurposed.


Location: Near Lufkin in Angelina County, Texas.

Maps & Images

Lat: 31.42139 Long: -94.80278

  • Multi Maps from ACME
  • Maps from Bing
  • Maps from Google
  • Elevation: 433'

See Also:

Sources:

  • Cornett, Lloyd H. & Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization (1946-1980), Office of History ADC, Peterson AFB, Colorado, 31 Dec 1980, 179 pages, Pdf, page 102.
  • Winkler, David F., Searching the Skies: the Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, USAF Hq Air Combat Command, 1997, 192 pages, Pdf, page 158.
  • USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2089501

Links:

Visited: No


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